Is West Virginia a cult?

11:34 AM,
Jan. 21, 2014

Froma Harrop

Written by

Froma Harrop
Columnist

After decades of suffering environmental torture at the hands of polluting industries, West Virginians might regard a chemical spill that poisoned the drinking water of 300,000 residents - and is still scaring folks after the dangers have presumably passed - as a last straw. But there never seems to be a last straw for them.

Though some state legislators have called for reforming the state's famously lax regulations, the general response has been to yell at the media and outsiders. The battle cry: Others don't appreciate the personal sacrifices West Virginians make to provide the nation ...